in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men while

slum-bering upon the bed. Then He opens the ears of

men and seals their instruction

[terrifying them with warnings] (Job 33:14-16 AMP).

c h a p t e r e i g h t

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by Michal Ann

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reams are known as “the sleep language” and, since the time of cre-ation, God has brought divine revelation to mortal men and women while they are sleeping.

Scripture even calls a prophet a

“dreamer of dreams” (see Deut.

13:1; Num. 12:6). Many Chris-tians hold the mistaken impres-sion that prophetic dream encounters are reserved for a small, elite group of specially sen-sitive or gifted people. But this simply is not the case. Read what Jim says on the subject of dreams in his wonderful book, The Seer:

While dreams are a spe-cific portion of the prophetic ministry, they are not limited only to the prophetically gifted. Joel 2:28 says, “It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will proph-esy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.” This Scripture was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost and continues to be fulfilled in our own day. It is time for the church to return to a

biblical understanding of dreams as an avenue of dis-cerning God’s voice.¹

I can testify personally that God has communicated and ministered to me in amazing ways through dreams. Every now and then, I love to review my dream logs to remember how God has spoken and blessed with me impartation over the years. As we go through life day-by-day, these dreams often seem minor compared to God’s more dramatic visitations. But when we take time to look back, we can see how much God has given to us. Dreams can be a tremendous, awesome revelation of how much He loves us and cares about even the most minute parts of our lives.

For example, the Lord has used dreams to heal my emotions and give power to my personal ministry. Through dreams, the Holy Spirit enhanced my ability to open my eyes of faith and see myself as God does. Also through dreams is where I first began to carry the “burden of the Lord” of prophetic interces-sion in compasinterces-sion for others. Many people in our modern Western culture treat dreams as foolish or even demonic. But they don’t know what they are missing! God’s authoritative word has another view on the matter:

For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: “And it shall be in the last days,” God says,

“That I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;

even upon My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit and they shall prophesy (Acts 2:15-18).

The entire realm of prophecy, prophetic dreams, and visions is openly supernatural, and, for that reason alone, is too quickly set aside in our age driven by logic and knowl-edge. I can trace my own “baptism” in the realm of dreams

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and revelation to April 7, 1991, when I dreamt that Jim and I were participating in a small church meeting. One man stood up and said prophetically, “There is a woman here to whom God will give great boldness and speech and proclamation, one who is naturally very quiet and reserved.” Jim was sitting next to me, and he said, “I know who that’s for—Michal Ann Goll.” Later on in my dream, a woman came up to me and said that a “new life” was in my body, which several other women confirmed that night. God, by His grace and loving kindness, had overcome me and was continuing to overcome my natural sense of reserve by placing within me a spirit of boldness and proclamation.

When given these prophetic words through my dream, I had a choice to make: I could reject the move of God in my life, like my biblical namesake, Michal; or I could receive God’s word and let Him flow through me. From its Hebrew roots, the true meaning of Michal is “rivulet, stream, brook” or a flowing stream of water. In the Bible, Michal was the first wife of David and the youngest daughter of King Saul. After her father’s death, she rejected the move of God that prompted King David to dance without inhibition before his people. She was so concerned about preserving her royal station—and keeping up a pretense of false respectability—that she missed God by despising her anointed husband. As a result, she remained barren and childless for life (see 2 Sam. 6). I refuse to follow in her footsteps.

Since that day, I have seen my name literally fulfilled by the grace of God. He has made me a “flowing stream of grace and favor.” (My middle name Ann means “grace.”) I do not want to be a mocker of God’s presence and, thus, be barren. I want to have many “children” in the spirit realm, in whatever way God wants to bring them into my life. I have tried to be careful and guard my thoughts and attitudes regarding this. As I shared in Chapter 6, I know what it feels like to walk through seven years of barrenness but then experience God’s healing power and

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birth four children into the world—despite the medical world’s claims of that being an impossibility. God took me from a place of barrenness and gave me favor and grace in both the natural and the spiritual realms. Now, He is allowing me to become a channel or stream of His glory so that I can impart to others what He has given me.

Prophetic dreams are much like pregnancy and childbirth.

When God speaks to us through a dream—or in one of His many other revelatory ways—it is like carrying a baby. In the natural, an expectant mother has no idea what her baby will look like until she sees the final product after birth. Although aware that a new life is growing inside her belly, she does not know if the child will have blonde, black, brown, or red hair, or will be intellectual, athletic, or mechanically minded. What she does know for certain is that God has deposited new life in her, and, as a mother, she loves that life. Everything inside her is committed to guarding and caring for the new life that God has entrusted to her.

The same is true of prophetic dreams. When God gives us dreams, we have no idea what the end result will be. We must patiently and carefully carry the dream that God has conceived in us until He brings it to birth. When the fullness of time comes, we also receive a full understanding of the dream’s meaning. Looking at it from another perspective, receiving a dream is much like randomly receiving a young horse. At first, you have no idea what type of horse you have, and you won’t until a few years down the road. Your horse may be very regal and stately, or a teeth-rattling bucking bronco! In similar fash-ion, we never know when God is going to give us directional dreams concerning our giftings and callings. What we do need to know is how to respond when a dream comes. Each of us needs to say:

Lord, I just want life. Whatever it looks like, however You decide to bring it into maturity, that’s what I want. I want

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to ride the kind of horse that You have given me to ride. I want this dream to come to completion in the way that You have planned. I remove my hands from it and relin-quish any effort to control it and figure it all out. Lord, I just want the dream to grow within me and come to full maturity, in Jesus’ name.

For me, this sort of “hands-off” surrender attitude has been key to the entire realm of spiritual dreams and revelation. Who better to interpret and fulfill our dream than the One who gave it to us? Drawing closer to God should be our heart’s cry for any dream experience or supernatural encounter. If the experi-ence doesn’t bring us closer to Jesus, help us understand the work of the Cross, and become more firmly rooted in God’s love, then we need to seriously question its validity and source.

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Dreams tend to fall into two main categories: dreams of self-disclosure, or internal dreams; and dreams of outside events, or external dreams. Each of these broad categories also includes a number of different sub-categories.

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This category includes at least eight different types of dreams common to the Christian experience.

1. Healing dreams bring us love and divine forgiveness and often deliver God’s healing balm in ways that no other method can. In a previous chapter, I shared how God gave me a sweet dream about a white-haired older man (a father figure), who often spent time with me and told me (in all purity) that he longed to embrace me because he loved my hair’s fragrance. God gave me that dream to heal a very specific, personal area of hurt.

While growing up, my father did not receive the nurtur-ing that he should have. As a result, he didn’t know how

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to nurture or express love to his own kids until later in life. My natural father’s shortcomings could have been used by the enemy to distort my image of the heavenly Father. But God had the final say on the matter! My heavenly Father used a recurring dream to impart within me the love and nurturing that I so thirsted for as a child. God brought me supernatural healing through those dreams.

I am happy to say that before my father went to be with Jesus, he became a different man. He became very lov-ing and affirmlov-ing, and almost cried every time we had to leave after visiting him. I believe that this change came, in part, because God healed me through prophetic dreams so I could extend grace and under-standing to my dad. This helped him to forgive himself and released him to learn how to freely express love for others. Thank You, Jesus!

2. Cleansing dreams “shower off” the day-to-day effects of living in a fallen world. These dreams are especially help-ful when we are exposed to unclean influences that could be considered “dirty.” The Holy Spirit wonderfully refreshes and cleanses us from impurities in our soul.

These cleansing dreams are tools of sanctification.

3. Calling dreams usually involve a direct appeal from God concerning a revealed purpose, vocation, invitation, or anointing. The Lord uses these dreams to tell or confirm what He wants us to do presently or in times to come.

Calling dreams release guidance into our lives and pro-mote a faith that encourages us that God can and wants to use us. These dreams should always be confirmed by other sources of divine communication, such as an inward witness of peace to your spirit from that of God, and a revealed rhema, or living, word by the Holy Spirit.

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Remember, God’s revelatory word never conflicts the principle of His written Word.

I eagerly anticipate fulfilling one calling dream I’ve had several times in my life. It concerns my operating in a very powerful gift of the word of knowledge, especially as a ministry tool to unbelievers outside of church settings.

I dreamed of being in an empty parking lot when I received a word of knowledge from God about a gang leader who lived in an apartment above a garage. God gave me a very specific word for that man, as well as the courage to seek him out and deliver the word personally.

Upon hearing what I had to say, this gang leader was convicted and, in the end, came to know the Lord. After-wards, I got into a car and began talking to the driver.

Once again, the Lord gave me a very detailed word of knowledge that created a divine “entrance point” to this man’s heart so God could come meet him.

I long for the day when I move and minister in that level of prophetic anointing. From time to time, it happens as I step out in faith. Yes, God will move me out into this higher level of ministry, and He will do it for you as well.

Again, I’m not completely there yet. But when God gave me that calling dream, it planted within me divine seeds of hope and faith to believe that God can do it in me—

and that He wants to!

4. Warning dreams tell us not to pursue certain activities, course of action, decisions, or relationships. Frequently, they have to do with spiritual discernment, where God provides unknown details about a situation, presence, or activity. The Lord speaks through warning dreams to alert us of hidden snares, schemes, and devices of the enemy; or to warn us about “blind spots” in our own character or judgment. Such dreams have been very valu-able to Jim and I. More than once, we have been tipped

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off to watch out for certain enemies that wanted to encroach upon us. Being forewarned enables us to be prepared and armed for battle.

5. False dreams are inspired by the enemy to sow confusion, unrest, unbelief, fear, and hopelessness. When we are try-ing to discern a specific situation, we can follow the Lord’s admonition, “Ye shall know them by their fruits”

(Matt. 7:16 KJV). Although the Lord may cause us to feel unsettled, convicted, or even shocked at times, He never removes the eternal, unchanging marks of His Presence:

peace, love, and joy. There is always hope in the presence of the Lord for His emissaries. On the other hand, an atmosphere of despair and hopelessness always lingers around the presence of the evil one. The best way of deal-ing with a dream that you believe is false is to ask for the Lord’s discernment and understanding. He will quickly reveal the dream’s unclean source and dispel its power to confuse you. Pray for the grace gift of discerning of spir-its and a word of wisdom; both are greatly needed in today’s confused generation.

6. Body dreams are directly or indirectly influenced by the condition of our physical body. If you are feeling ill and have a dream about being sick, guess what? You might be sick! If you are pregnant and dream of being preg-nant, guess what? You might actually be pregnant.

Sometimes, we get so involved in what is going on in our physical bodies that those conditions find a way into our personal dream language. Common sense is an indispen-sable discernment tool in the prophetic realm. In other words, our natural state of affairs does affect our dream screen at night.

7. Exhortation dreams are used by the Lord to encourage us to continue in our God-given tasks. They inspire us to be bold and to go forth in God’s strength and power. One

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time, as Jim and I were preparing to go to Vancouver, Washington, I had been vomiting on-and-off all day long. Meanwhile, I was trying to get my kids ready to stay with friends and pack for myself. I would pack for five minutes and then have to lie down for 20 minutes; and again, pack for five minutes, then lie down for 20 min-utes. I felt absolutely horrible! I thought, Lord, how can I do this? We are going to have to get up at four or five o’clock in the morning, and we’re staying up late anyway.

In the middle of the night, I woke up and immediately sensed an angelic presence at the doorway of our room.

I could literally feel warmth on my body where rays of light emanating from his form shimmered toward me.

Somehow, I knew that these were warm healing rays. I felt as if I had just passed through a long, dreary winter season and was finally basking in the warm sunshine of springtime’s first sunny day. Up until the moment the angelic figure appeared, I had felt chilled to the bone.

When I glanced at the clock, it said 1:11 ^A.^M. Past expe-rience had taught me that God often speaks to us in dreams through numbers, and I wondered what it meant. Just before I went back to sleep, I said, “Lord, what is 1:11?”

After quizzing the Holy Spirit, I slipped into another dream in which I saw Mike Bickle, who is leader of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. In the dream I said, “Mike, I just had this experience, and the clock said 1:11. Can you tell me what it means?” Mike was holding a very thin Bible that contained only the Books of Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians. Mike said, “Oh, that is Colossians 1:11.” Right then, I woke up, picked up my Bible and found the passage that says, “[We pray that you will be] strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the

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Father…” (Col. 1:11-12). That Scripture described per-fectly what was happening to me; the warmth I had felt was the angel giving me strength to continue on. God strengthened, confirmed, and established me, once again, through a dream in the night season.

8. Warfare dreams are God-anointed and ordained engage-ments against powers of darkness. Even when our bodies are asleep, the Holy Spirit within us remains awake and vigilant. That is why God can speak to us and anoint us to action in the “spirit realm” even while asleep. Remem-ber, God never sleeps or slumbers, and He gives to His beloved in their sleep (see Ps. 121:4; 127:2). Perhaps the Holy Spirit engages in battle for us even as we slumber.

Great! Fight on, O Mighty Warrior!

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This second major category of dreams has the following four characteristics:

1. They are concerned with outside events involving the world, the Church, our family, or our friends.

2. This is a specialized category. Some dream analysts state that external dreams will only account for approximately 5 percent of our total dream activity. This percentage will vary, however, according to our individual mix of spiritual gifts and callings.

3. The purpose of these dreams is usually to cause us to pray. They seem to be God’s way of providing “insider information” for purposes of private prayer, as opposed to

In document James Goll, God Encounters (Page 150-162)